Elements Are Too Large?

Im a newbie, and cannot for the life of me figure this out. I have spent close to two hours searching the forums for the answer, but I must not be using the right words.

I have a template all opened up...I have all my pictures opened up as well as some digi elements I want to add to the template. Well, I drag the photo onto the template, do the Ctrl G and my pics or elements are HUGE. I go up to free transform, then I try to shrink it....well Its so huge I cant find the edges! I tried to put 10 or 15 percent in the width box, but then sometimes I cant even find the picture at all. I spent 4 hours dragging in 10 elements last nite. Should I resize somewhat before the Ctrl G?

Gosh, I know what you mean! I don't have a technical answer or the "correct" way to do this, but what I usually do when this happens is grab hold of the photo at the top of the frame and drag that part to the bottom of the frame. Then I go back up to the top and repeat and repeat and repeat until eventually the little sizing box comes into view. Then I can pull it in and resiez the pic.
Like I said - not the most elegant way to do it, but for now hope it helps!

First, what size pages are you using? The only time I have that happen is when I'm doing a small (like 4x6) page. Otherwise, the things I drag in generally fit on the page. If you're creating a larger (12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11) pages, check to make sure they are 300 pixels per inch. If your resolution is low, the embellishments will seem too big for the page.

You mean I have to resize my pics and embellies to 300 px before I use them? I was making a facebook timeline photo collage.

Im not sure what the template resolution is. Ill check on that tonight.

Yeah I got sick of dragging the corners 25 times to get it resized. I know there is a better way.

First, what size pages are you using? The only time I have that happen is when I'm doing a small (like 4x6) page. Otherwise, the things I drag in generally fit on the page. If you're creating a larger (12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11) pages, check to make sure they are 300 pixels per inch. If your resolution is low, the embellishments will seem too big for the page.

All the items sold at Scrap Girls come at 300 pixels per inch, so you shouldn't have to re-size those. And when you insert a photo, it will automatically convert to 300 pixels per inch as long as the document was created in that size.
It's generally easier to create the document at 300 pixels, save it, and then resize it to post, if you have to post it at 72 pixels per inch.

You mean I have to resize my pics and embellies to 300 px before I use them? I was making a facebook timeline photo collage.

Im not sure what the template resolution is. Ill check on that tonight.

Yeah I got sick of dragging the corners 25 times to get it resized. I know there is a better way.

First, what size pages are you using? The only time I have that happen is when I'm doing a small (like 4x6) page. Otherwise, the things I drag in generally fit on the page. If you're creating a larger (12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11) pages, check to make sure they are 300 pixels per inch. If your resolution is low, the embellishments will seem too big for the page.

All the embellishments come at 300 pixels per inch because they are sized for printing. Anything you're doing for the web will be at a much smaller resolution. I would either create the image at 300 dpi like Gayle mentioned, or re-size things before I drag them in.

Welcome, Pammy! My trick when I bring in a high-resolution (and therefore "gynormous") photo is to Zoom OUT on the whole layout until the edges of the photo/object are visible. Your layout might look relatively tiny at that point. Then just select the corner sizing handle of the photo/object, and drag it smaller until it's manageable. Then zoom back in to see everything at a reasonable magnification. Quick and easy.

Oh, another way to do this, presuming you know the object is selected, is to enter 50% into both height & width characteristics and press Enter. You might have to do it once or twice to get the photo into range, but it's also pretty quick.

Get the supplies that you want to use, change the file size so that it is 72dpi and then drop it over to your template. Make sure you don't save the original file with the new file size. Just close it up without saving.